Xiamen Overview

Xiamen, located on the southeast coast of Fujian Province at the mouth of the Jiulong River directly across from Taiwan and Penghu islands, covers a total area of 1,565 square kilometers (604.2 square miles) and 300 (115.8 square miles) square kilometers sea area , which makes it as an international harbor scenic city. However, Xiamen Island is the fourth biggest island in Fujian Province, covering an area of about 132.5 (51 square miles) square kilometers with 13.7 kilometers (8.5 miles) long from north to south and 12.5 kilometers (7.8 miles) wide from east to west. Xiamen port is a natural harbor with favorable conditions and a very winding coastline as long as 234 kilometers (145 miles), surrounded by mountains inside the port and dotted by islets outside the port. Xiamen port is an important and influential seaport in the southeast of China in history for its deep water without freezing.

Xiamen Municipality is composed of six districts and one county, including Kaiyuan, Siming, Gulangyu, Huli, Jimei, Xinglin Districts and Tong’an County. The population of the city is 2.5 million, most of whom are Han Nationality. There are more than 10 minority nationalities inhabiting here such as Man Nationality and Hui Nationality.

Owing to geographical environment and historical background, Xiamen is famous for the ancestral home to the overseas Chinese. As a matter of fact, there are a great number of the returned overseas Chinese as well as Hongkong, Macao and Taiwan compatriots.
Now Xiamen is one of China’s special economic zones as well as the main point of economic and cultural communication between Taiwan and the Mainland. Beside its natural scenic spots, Xiamen is also a very clean city which is China’s second most livable city according to a survey in 2006, making it a famous tourism city for visitors from all over the world.

 Xiamen is famous all over the world not only for its various kinds of scenic spots but also for its cultural relics as well as an international seaport. There are many attractions in Xiamen, for example: Gulangyu Island, the Nanputuo Temple, the Hulishan Fort and Jimei, among which the most well-known one is Gulangyu Island for being rich in fantastic sceneries, historical relics and architectures in different style as well as its musical atmosphere. As AAAAA national tourism attraction, Gulangyu Island contains many scenic spots such as the Sunlight Rock, the Piano Museum and the Bright Moon Park, among which the Sunlight Rock is the highest point of Xiamen, and they all are highly recommended to the visitors.